‘No doubt the secret weapon is Alan Costello’
TINAHELY manager Paul Tyrrell was a happy man in the aftermath of his side’s victory over Kilcoole in the Junior ‘C’ football final last Thursday night in Ballinakill. Last year’s defeat to Ashford was undoubetedly a weight on the shoulders of the Tinahely men as they took to the field, but they emerged victorious after a tough battle thanks to lady luck, legends and a certain Mr. Costello according to Tyrrell.
‘It was a tough encounter, tough conditions, slippy surface, Kilcoole were really up for it, they won a lot of the breaking ball, a lot of the dirty ball that we would normally win and they put a lot of pressure on us,’ he began.
‘They got two goals in the second half that were superbly taken, they were sweet goals, and I think that brought them right back into it and we were fortuitous with the ball that came off the keeper, but David Dillon being the old soldier that is just followed it in. He’s great.
‘They (David Dillon, Brian Hickey and David Blake) are three legends, they’re awesome, and Gavin Kenny coming back from injury at full-back, he was awesome there as well.
‘A lot of this, as ‘Pee Wee’ (Ray Mcglynn, tinahely captain) said in his speech, is down to them all training together. A lot of them young lads will make a burst on to that senior squad, but there’s no doubt that the secret weapon is Alan Costello, and the belief, and the training regime. Plus, the fact that we have good men up there with him, Rory (Stokes), and Martin Ging and Shane Kenny.
‘Alan is a real leader, a good talker, very passionate about the game. He’s training drills are superb, nobody gets bored at training, he keeps it varied, and you can see a lot of the lads are qite fit.
‘And that Kilcoole team are fit, that number 10, Jordan Murray, unreal.
‘I thought he was very unlucky, made a lovely shimmy and was done for overcarrying, I thought it was very harsh, and we got a goal out of it just before half-time and it gave us a bit of daylight and I think that was the big difference between us, that goal was crucial for us.
‘We’re just delighted. Last year we were five pints up playing against a strong win and we fell apart in the second half, Ashford just went up another gear and that’s football. We played some hard matches against stronger opposition, and definitely playing the likes of Avondale and Grey- stones (in the league) brought us to a different level, brought us to a different tempo, and then Greystones last week, we knew they were going to be good. When you get to a county final teams are there on merit.
‘We got a few lucky goals, but the ball didn’t flow for us as well as it should, but the boys didn’t panic and didn’t do anything silly with the ball and then kicked a few points and put a bit of daylight between us and the opposition,’ he said.
When it came to stars for the year on a talented team, Paul had several candidates for mention.
‘Willie Quaile, Fionn Furlong, ‘Butch’ (Brian Hickey) in the semi-final, he held the middle, and he was unfortunate there tonight with his calf (injury). And then you have David Dillon, a natural leader, and David Blake, top class,’ he said before heading off to join the celebrations.